Katy Trail 2013

Katy Trail 2013, 225 miles

Notes:

*daily mileage is approximate as the Garmin battery died or was close several times

*KatyTrail is a Rails-to-Trails of fine crushed gravel & sand over an old railroad bed

*Clinton, Mo to St. Charles, Mo; 225.1 miles trailhead to trailhead.

4/7/13, Day 1, 35.6 miles

Nice day, we drove up from Doug's to begin the bike ride.

We unloaded the gear, assembled the trailers, loaded the gear and after a couple of pictures, the journey and adventure began.

The rail was dusty and packed. I found out it is much more difficult pulling a trailer and gear of about 80-90 lbs, it was like sitting on the trainer for hours. We still managed to cruise at a pretty good pace.

We did stop several times just to stretch the legs, since we were pushing it a bit to get to the camp grounds in Sedalia, MO. I never thought 36 miles could be so tough or take so long, about 4.5hrs. Legs wanted to cramp in the last couple of miles. Hope I make it thru the night. We got to the State Fair camp grounds and found a spot to pitch our tents.

We were told by a lady in an RV, that they were told the water was not good to drink ... Too late, Doug and I both drank water, hope we don't get sick. Sometime after we set up tents and started cooking our dinner - chili - it began to rain, just in time. Listened to the wind and rain thought the the night.

Overall, that was a good ride today.

Starting off, the weather was great but has made a change. Bad weather was predicted for Wednesday but lets hope it blows thru without any real incident.

4/8/13, Day 2, 43.7 miles

Not a good day! Cramped worst than when I did Mt Cheah 50k. Not sure what happened. It was warm and I did sweat a lot, clothes were drenched with sweat. I drank, took in electrolytes - maybe, I didn't eat enough??

Went about 43 miles. It took about 9 hours with all the stops due to cramping over about the last 20 miles. Plus, the trails were soft due to the rains last night and one stretch was about 8 miles of steady incline, add to that pulling about 80-90lbs of gear on a trailer - not easy. Quads were screaming and going into revolt when I really had to work them. There were a couple of times 1-1 on the gears wasn't low enough. There were times I wish they made 1/2 gears .... LOL.

Sometime after we crossed over the Missouri River in Booneville, Doug picked up something and one of his trailer tires went flat. We stopped in New Franklin, to camp at the Katy roundhouse. Shower felt great! Dinner was good - 4 cheese Rice-a-Roni concoction Doug made, throwing in dehydrated mushrooms and chicken flavored TVP.

I was told it will be more flat tomorrow, I hope so. I also hope no cramps.

4/9/13, Day 3, 36.8 miles

Today was better. More flat trail. The only problem came later in the morning when the winds were at our right side or in our face. No cramps today! We stopped several times more and I drank a little more often. I don't think I was sweating quite as much as yesterday but it was still a good bit.

Rode along the Missouri River bottoms, stopped at a place called Coopers' Landing, a real dive along the river. I was craving grilled cheese and fries but the cook wasn't in (or around?) so, I'm still craving a grilled cheese and fries.

Legs are sore. The cramps yesterday really did a number on my muscles!

We stopped in Hartsburg for the night. Luckily we got in town early today, earlier than yesterday. Set up tents, etc. and then heard there were to be severe thunderstorms with possible hail. Verified that with my wife so we started looking for an alternative to camping out. We had heard one of the churches in the town (population 108) left their doors unlocked for people biking the Katy, so went to one - that wasn't it, so went to the other, this must be it. The doors were unlocked, I snooped around looking for someone or a number we could call, I didn't find either, so reported back to Doug, we broke camp and headed to the church. We found an offering envelope and put money in with a note. After we began to settle in, we heard someone upstairs. Certainly didn't want to frighten anyone, so walked up from the basement (fellowship & quilting area) and found the music director was preparing for choir practice which began at 8pm. The music director, showed us were we could put the envelope, so I did and thanked them. We chatted for a bit then Doug and I retired to the basement, where we listened to the choir. For a small town, the choir actually sounded very good.

We have a long day tomorrow, 40 miles in possible rain, wind and soft trail. Yes, could be a looooong day.

Note: storms blew in around 3am. Wow, doors at the church were banging, lightening like crazy; so glad we stayed in the church.

4/10/13, Day 4, 44.4 miles

"Can I call it quits!?"

Woke up to more rain, lightening and wind. The plan was to try and head out in the rain once the lightening stopped, got as far as the trail head before the bottom fell out again. We almost sagged it but then after about 30 minutes, things let up and we decided to give it a try.

Stopped for a grilled cheese & fries in Mokane, finally.

Trail was soft most of the way, washed out in some areas, just tough slow going. Doug has been riding strong but after the cramps on day 2, I have just struggled! Right now the best I've been able to do is about 2 miles, rest for a few minutes, repeat. It's taken longer but we've still managed to get in at a decent time. Doug took a spill when his front wheel hit a chug hole. He's ok but just a little sore.

Not too much more about the trail. We did managed to make to the Rendleman House B&B just minutes, I mean minutes - maybe 5, before the evening storm arrived. Got to have a nice hot shower and interesting conversation with the owner. The owner ("Uncle Doug" Rendleman) is quite the character. He's a cyclist and really caters to the cyclist that utilize the trail. The B&B is a no frills but it would be a great place to camp out if not storming. Doug is a very accommodating guy without many rules. One of them is "no meanness allowed" ... LOL. We fixed our dinner (didn't pay for meals with the room) and shared it with him, he enjoyed it. He offered to fix us French Toast in the morning, a nice break from oatmeal. I'm a little tired of oatmeal, I couldn't even finish mine this morning.

Well, it's late. Breakfast at 07:30 and trail after that. Not sure if we're going to shoot for the scheduled 33 or push further up to 44, if I can handle it.

4/11/13, Day 5, 46.72miles

Left "Uncle Doug" Rendleman's B&B with a heavy misting and a cool breeze (about 38*F). After struggling again with soft, mushy trails for about 20 miles the trail finally firmed up and we were able to make better time. We still were stopping about every 2 miles to stretch the legs (and let's not forget the very important sitting feature - the butt). Weather was still a little breezy and cool at times but we kept to our routine. With the more firm trails our travel time was so much better than predicted, that we made it into our planned stop of Marthasville early. We had discussed going on to Augusta for the night while we were riding, so with the advanced arrival time and the fact that it will reduce our mileage tomorrow, we pushed on to Augusta.

We stopped at a little place in Treloar, 2 grilled cheese and an order fries this time :-)

Once in Augusta, we searched for a place to stay. We had planned to camp but having run out of fuel in Hartsburg (the self-sealing fuel canister failed to seal) and no stove fuel to be found long the way, we opted to eat in town and then camp. We couldn't really find anywhere to camp or shower, so while we were eating, I called my wife to see if she could find a place. Luckily, there was a little cabin with 2 beds and a shower we were able to get into without much of a hassle. We were both shivering while we ate dinner, and couldn't wait to get to the cabin where the owner was cleaning up and building a fire in the wood stove.

Fed, showered and ready to crash, the ride is almost over, 27 miles left to go.

4/12/13, Day 6, 28.4 miles

Lazed around this morning so we didn't get in too early. Got ready to start and one of my trailer tires were flat. Changed the tube, and hit the trail. So why couldn't the trail have been better the last several days like it was today. We made good time today, averaged 9-10mph. Temperature was about 45*F this morning with mostly cloudy skies, although the sun shone through a few times and felt good. Toes were numb and fingers a little cold but didn't break a dripping sweat like I had the past 5 days. When we were somewhere around 10 miles out, we passed a trailer runner that asked if we did the whole trail, we told him, "Yes." and he exclaimed ,Awesome, congrats!". This made us feel great. I knew I liked trail/ultra runners - they get it. Finished up around 1:20pm today. Went to the Trailhead Brewery for pizza, great finish to the ride.

Final thoughts:

Glad it's over. Sad it's over.

I can honestly can say, there were times I thought about quitting but who would get me and where would I go? To me, this was as much a bike trip and experience as it was an endurance event. What drives us to keep going when it hurts or ready to quit and give up, wanting it to end, only to finish and want to keep going or want more? I can't say I enjoy pain, I don't! There was no fanfare when we finished. No one knew or cared really that we had just finished this grueling event because we wanted to. And when some asked, they asked the question, "Why?".  As much as I was tired of the trail, I was becoming used to it. The towns and the few people we did meet, all seem to run together. Just like the days we were out there.

We passed through so many small towns and communities (populations of 80-300) that were dependent at one time of the railroad but now they work in other towns, cater to the trail riders or they farm. Much of the Missouri River bottoms is fertile farm land.  Beautiful scenery and many friendly people. Time seemed to slow, things do not really seem to matter except for the weather. Not having watched any TV for a week, I have no idea what has happened. I can just imagine how it was back when the railroad was the only source of information. Information was days, weeks or even months old by the time some people received it.

Would I do this again, I'm sure I would. What's my next adventure? I'm not really sure. I know I'm ready to get back to running. I do have a century ride scheduled again for this summer but other than that, I just want to get back to ultra running distance training.

Mississippi 50 (50k) The ultimate mud-fest

Mississippi Trail 50, 2012


It was great to come back and tag along with a friend, Doug, doing his first ultra the same place I began my ultra start. I ran this back in 2009 when the temperatures reached the mid 80's after a nice cool winter. This year, the weather was overcast and about 50F with some rain.

It had rained off and on the week leading up to the event, with a torrential downpour, severe weather alerts and tornado watches. Doug and I met up with Drew T. and Dorothy C. at the pre-race dinner and packet pick up in Laurel, MS.

(Dorothy, Drew, Me, Doug)

After dinner we went back to the hotel to try and get some rest before the big day. We knew it was going to be a wet, muddy adventure. The thing was, we just didn't know how much of an adventure it was going to be. We made jokes and just tried to settle in to the fact we can't change the weather, only adapt.

Leading up to the race, I had not had the training I really would have like to have had. Oh, who am I kidding, my training had suffered before my 50 miler in December so, I was somewhat unsure of how the day would go. I did know one thing, I knew I could finish, I just didn't want to hold Doug back if he was feeling good or had this sudden surge of energy at the end. We set thealarm for 4am and tried to get some rest. 4am came "early" ... LOL .... so we got up and got dressed, going through the normal, or as normal as could be, for a 50k (a 1st for one and number ?? for the other). We looked out the hotel window, yep it was raining, lightly but still raining. Well, it will certainly be a wet, muddy day.

After the normal wake up routines, we hit the road for the 30+ minute drive to the National Forest and the start of the MS50. We laughed about the number of cars on the road and we all seemed to be heading in the same direction. Who else but a bunch of crazy ultra runners would be up and out in the rain on a Saturday morning headed to some remote location in a National Forest. We get there, find a place to park, begin the check in process. Who do I see as I approach the check in? Drew and Dorothy of course. I also see a guy I met at Cheaha 50k last March and Lookout Mountain 50 Miler in December (I've got to try and get his name - remember it), so we stood and chatted for a bit. I was looking around to see if I recognized any other runners but I didn't. Trail running and ultra's seem to really be gaining popularity. We all mingled a bit. About 5:50am we made our way to the starting line for the 6am start. Last minute instructions, well wishes to those around us and then we were off.

I think we made it about a 1/4 of a mile to find the first of many puddles on the course. No need trying to avoid the water, so through it we went. Puddle after puddle, mud hole after mud hole a short break and then the first of many creek crossings. Oh, funny .. guy slips, two of us try to catch him - we do - he runs about 10 feet only to get tripped up again and this time he and a young woman go tumbling ... yep, that's the way this day was going to go. Everyone laughed, he made the comment about getting it out of the way early and more laughter .. what a crazy bunch of people - LOL. I won't bore you with the number of puddles, creeks and mud holes .. just know it was very repetitious with a few miles here and there that it was somewhat dry - just enough time to dry your shoes before the next round of wetness - water and/or mud.

As we were running, I couldn't help but reflect to the year I had run this and covering the unknown distance for the first time, I kept thinking it seemed so much easier now. In a relative way. Certain points along the course were familiar and some not so. Doug and I chatted along the way, making comments to others and joking around ... would you expect anything less from the two of us? HAHA. When I did this event the first time, there had been a controlled burn so the course was changed, this time it was the original course. We made it through the two big loops of 12.5 miles (approx) each and then on to the last 6.1. During the last 10 - 6 miles it felt as though my shoe insoles had shifted and my toes were hanging of the ends. I later discovered it was just mud - pictures to follow although they were mostly already posted on dailymile and Twitter. Doug was having some blistering issues in his heels - that was also from mud in the shoes. I knew I could make it with the slight irritation from the mud, I think I must have pretty durable feet. I didn't get any blisters when I did my 50 miler nor did I get any during this watery, muddy mess of fun. We discussed getting some pictures of the mud but I knew deep down a picture just wouldn't do it justice. We make the last major turn back onto the main trail, cross the fire road, back on a short trail then on to the fire road for the finish line. I guess I was somewhat zoned out at the finish because I didn't stop at the finish I went just a little past and had to ask for my finishers medal as Doug and the race director stood there talking .. I guess he thought I was going on for more muddy fun - nope, I was done! ha 6:51 was our finish time, which was actually a couple minutes faster than when I did my first one. I think had it been drier, we would have done about 6:30. I didn't have any cramps, I was a little sore and ready to be done but pleased that I finished and had fun. Overall, a great finish in all that water and mud. A big CONGRATS goes out to my friend Doug for listening to me drone on during the 31 miles and most of all for finishing his first ultra event.

As we crossed the line, our friend Drew was also there. He had dropped after 3 12.5 big loops because his quads were shot. He was also planning on doing the RnR 1/2 in New Orleans on Sunday. Drew a big CONGRATS for running 37+ miles in those conditions and this also being your first ultra event.

We (Drew, Doug and I) had our picture taken while we waited for Dorothy to come around for the beginning of her two 6.1 mile loops and on her way to finish her 50 mile event - with an awesome tome of 10:05.

Doug and I loaded up and headed back to my house, a nice 2.5 hour drive. We were a little chilled but soon warmed up and talked about the days events and people we had met along the way.

After getting home we sorted through our muddy clothes, keeping the worst outside until we could rinse them off, then took nice hot showers to wash the mud off our bodies. We put our shoes in a bucket of water to help loosen up the mud, didn't help too much. Finally we rinsed things off, I threw my socks in the trash and we washed our clothes.

Where else can you get 31 miles of muddy fun for a mere $35?

Now it's time for some recovery. A massage today (Monday) and some cross-training for a few weeks of active recovery and strength building. Next up is Run Across Georgia with Drew, Dorothy, Andy S. and others in May; Hot hundred Century ride in July; Daughters wedding in August; Reverse Duathlon while on vacation in October and who's knows what else this year. I may do some local races (5 & 10K's) as some of the runners from the local running club have been complaining that they haven't seen me in a while .... gee, I wonder why .. LOL ... and just have some fun before hitting it hard next year. Next year the plan is at least 1 or two 50 milers and a 100k.

Happy Running

2011 Review (and a year of firsts)

I thought I would take a little time and review this years events.

I think the first event this year was Mt. Cheaha 50k on 2/27, yes, the one I finished just a head of cut-off and with cramps from about mile 15 on. I met Andy, Mike, Paul and was surprised to see Drew at around the 26 mile mark waiting to cheer us on. By far my hardest 50k just because of the cramps.

Next on the list was the "homemade" SweetdaddyD 50k in April (17). Originally, I was going to do the Frisco HighLine 50k but it fell on the same weekend as the Derby Marathon on 4/30. So, I went up to Doug's and did my own 50k training run with Doug as my rolling aid station after he got his run in with me earlier that morning. Then, on the 30th, I met up with Doug and Stan for the Derby Marathon in Louisville, Ky. Again, just as a training run.

June 25 brought on the MojoStLoco in St. Louis, where I met a lot of new people. Most of the people I knew from podcasts or online but it was special to meet these people in "real life" .. haha. It was a great weekend of just running through parts of St. Louis with acquaintances becoming new friends. Thanks to Jason & Ray.

Next was a departure from the normal. By that, I mean I had bought a bike for cross-training and a friend talked me into doing the local Hot Hundred Cycling event on 7/30. I struggled on several of the long training rides but managed to pull it together on the big day to finish the 103 mile ride. This was my "first" cycling event.

Another "first" on the list was the Flora-Bama Reverse Duathlon on 10/15, which just so happened to fall on the weekend we went to the beach for vacation. It was fun and I even placed in this event.

And finally, we come to the big event of the year which fell on my birthday, 12/17, the Lookout Mountain 50 miler. This was another "first" event for me. I had wanted to run a 50 miler last year on my 50th birthday but due to an injury, I moved it to this year. I really wanted to do better but hey, when the 3 to 4 weeks leading up the the event left me with mostly a long run on the weekends and not much during the weeks, I'll take it. Can I do better? I really think I can. Did I learn anything during this event and the training cycle? Yep! I think I found that yes, we can do more than we sometimes think we can.

So, what did I do this year? I accomplished several firsts and goals that I set for myself. Did I have any stellar performances? Nope, I'm just an average middle to back of the pack runner/athlete. I will say I met some awesome people along the way this year that have inspired and motivated me to accomplish these goals. I had fun, I hurt, I had setbacks but I kept moving forward. I've also learned that even with a loss of fitness, I can still push my limits and finish the task.

I would like to say "thank you" to a lot of people but I'm afraid I would leave someone out, so I won't name names; but just know that each and every one of you played a part in my life this year. Whether it was on twitter or dailymile, your words of encouragement, kindness, positive attitude and generous spirit all played a part. I read many a dailymile or blog post and was just in awe of your accomplishments. I honestly feel the running community can be such a positive influence in our lives, if we let it. In many ways, I don't think I could have done what I did this year without your help. So thank you!!

May we all have a great 2012 of running, cycling, swimming or whatever our event(s) will be. Let's continue to encourage and motivate those around us as we make more new friends.